Federal Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed has revealed that India would never want good Pak-Afghan relations. “After a strategic defeat in Afghanistan, India has now started to engage with Pakistani criminals.”

Speaking at a Senate session on Monday, he said Johar town and Anarkali attacks were backed by India and RAW.

The Minister revealed that all the senators are well informed about the situation in the northwestern areas of Pakistan. “If I speak about it in detail, media headlines would be made.”

Rasheed briefly said that five to six major terrorist organizations are currently operating in Balochistan including ISIS, Al-Qaida, different groups of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Baloch Republican Army, and a reportedly newly established Baloch National Army.

Talks with TTP

Rasheed pointed out that they increased after the Fall of Kabul on August 15.

“We are not negotiating with any terrorist organization currently and would hit back at entities that endanger Pakistan’s sanctity,” he said, adding that the terrorists involved in the attacks on Dasu Dam and Gwadar have been arrested.

The home minister added that 2,680km fencing of the Pak-Afghan border has been completed and only 20 km remains. The fencing that the Tehreek –e-Taliban Afghanistan demolished is not the main fencing but a “side-line” of the main fence.

But 200km fencing at the Baluchistan border still remains.

PDM long march

The minister has urged the Pakistan Democratic Movement or PDM to move its long March on Islamabad from March 23 to March 27.

Any mishap during the OIC summit would cause global humiliation, he warned.

Speaking at a Senate session on Monday, the minister said that all routes around the core headquarters on the Grand Trunk road (GT road) will be closed due to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit, scheduled on March 22 and 23.

Rasheed pointed out that more than half of the capital would be under military control on March 23. Mobile phone signals will be blocked which will prevent the opposition’s demonstration from being televised.

“My aim is not to scare [the] PDM,” he said, “They can feel free to march towards Islamabad on March 23, but if any mishap occurs during the conference, it will damage Pakistan’s reputation internationally.

The minister added that terrorism and the recent surge in Covid-19 cases are major threats too.

“I was a member of the committee which warned Muhatarma Benazir Bhutto not to hold a rally at the Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, but she thought that it was just a ruse. And she was assassinated.”